


The Psychological Cost of Maurice's Exorcism

by littleczechbear



Category: Annabelle Comes Home, Ed Warren - Fandom, Judy Warren - Fandom, Lorraine Warren - Fandom, The Conjuring (Movies), the conjuring - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Demonic Possession, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Husband Wife Fluff, Maurice's Possession, Mental Health Issues, Panic Attacks, Post Traumatic Stress, Recovery, Religious fasting, Self-Isolation, catholic faith, supportive husband
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23275276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleczechbear/pseuds/littleczechbear
Summary: A typical Sunday morning turns into a ghastly apprehension of the future when Ed and Lorraine are told by Father Gordon he needs their help. Deals with the emotional, spiritual and psychological impact of witnessing a friends death.
Relationships: Ed Warren/Lorraine Warren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 30





	1. Mass at Saint Cyriacus'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _Author's Note: Takes chronological place in the days before and after the exorcism of Maurice (Before the happenings of The Conjuring and after the happenings of Annabelle Comes Home), when Lorraine has her premonition regarding Ed’s death and then self-isolates herself for eight days._  
>  **In order to understand this fanfic, you should have seen The Conjuring, and The Nun.**  
> 

**Sunday**  
It was Sunday morning. Lorraine woke up first, to the sound of light rain falling against the window pane. She sleepily blinked, her blue eyes slowly coming into focus to see Ed asleep on the pillow beside her. He looked so peaceful, his face entirely at rest, the smile and squint lines that usually featured on his face only lightly visible. Lorraine was filled by a lovely feeling of contentment as she gazed at her husband asleep and safe in bed beside her, while the sound of rain pattering softly slowly filled her ears. She glanced over at the clock on the mantelpiece at the end of the bed. Quarter to seven in the morning. Church service started at 8 o’clock, and she knew Ed wouldn’t want to be late.  
She gently reached out to touch him, running her hand up his arm feeling her fingers glide through the hairs, up and up only to stop and lightly trace circles on his shoulder. Ed stirred, and slowly opened his eyes, waking to see Lorraine looking at him.  
“Good morning honey,” Lorraine quietly said, ending the circles she was drawing on his shoulder and moving her hand back down his arm to where his hand was, which she took in hers and gave a gentle squeeze.  
Ed blinked groggily. “Good morning, my love. What time is it?” His voice was deeper in the morning and Lorraine loved to hear him sounding a little different at this early hour.  
“It’s nearly seven, honey. Are we going to Church this morning?” Lorraine replied.  
Ed grunted. “Of course. When have we ever not gone to Church?”  
Lorraine laughed lightly. “Plenty of times.”  
There had been many times when they were on a case together, or touring and lecturing at school’s and universities where they had not been able to make it to church, or had felt too shy as a couple to sit in on a Catholic Church service from a community that they were not apart of. Lorraine had always been sensitive to the “newcomer” looks that were shot their way when they visited a new community, and although it didn’t bother Ed, he had also noticed some cold looks directed his way from the priests of some of the churches they had visited in the past when they had recognized him and his wife. Because of these reasons, they appreciated that their own church community knew them personally and accepted them and their role in spiritual activities with no judgment and regarded them as spiritual mentor figures in their community, which was why, when they could, they always made the effort to attend the Sunday service. By 8’oclock Ed, his wife and his daughter were sitting on a middle row pew at Saint Cyriacus’ Parish ready for the solemn mass.  


* * *

After the solemn mass had ended, Father Gordon made his way towards Ed and Lorraine, who stood on the steps of the rear church entrance, talking to some family friends as they watched Judy playing tag in the grassy lawn area under the trees with some other children. It was still sprinkling lightly, but the tree canopy protected the children from any rain. Lorraine smiled as she watched their baby sitter, Mary Ellen, chase her daughter, her blonde locks askew as she dodged a tree to tag Judy, which Judy had nimbly ducked behind in the hopes of avoiding Mary Ellen. It didn’t work, however, and Mary Ellen tagged Judy before laughing and giving her a warm embrace before darting off. Anthony, the boy Judy had only made friends with last summer and whose sister had broken into their Occult Museum, teasingly ran close to Judy, ducking and darting before running away leaving Judy infuriated. Her long locks, which had grown so much since that last summer, spun around her as she ran after him. The siblings had started attending Church since that last summer, and Judy had been good friends with them ever since.  
“Ed, Lorraine, good morning!” Father Gordon’s voice drew Lorraine’s attention away from watching her daughter play.  
“Good morning, Father.” Ed and Lorraine both responded, at different intervals, Ed receiving a handshake from the Father too.  
“And how did you find Mass?” Father Gordon asked, in polite small talk, his eyes smiling kindly.  
“Encouraging and uplifting, Father.” Ed responded thoughtfully, his eyes steadily holding Father Gordon’s gaze all the while as he wondered what the small talk was about.  
Lorraine sensed an anxious aurora about the Father, and a quick dart of eye contact with Ed confirmed that he felt something similar.  
“Is anything the matter, Father? Have you had any news about the French Canadian man?”  
Father Gordon lowered his head as if in deep thought, obscuring his white priestly collar before raising his head again to say, “Yes, that actually is why I wanted to speak to you two this morning.” He motioned for them to come back inside the church, indicating that it was no topic to be discussed airily on the open steps of the church in front of other families. Lorraine gave a final glance towards Judy, who was still playing with her friends, before following Father Gordon and Ed inside. They made their way up towards the private altar behind the main altar, where a large crucifx hung as well as a baptismal font. No one else was there with them.  
Father Gordon continued in a lowered voice, as they took a seat on one of the few pews in front of the altar. “If you hadn’t of made it to Mass I was going to call and ask you to come in to the Parish to see me anyhow.” He paused, and the crackling of the Tabernacle lamp was the only thing to be heard as the hushed church waited for him to continue speaking. Muted sounds of children playing outside could be heard faintly echoing through the empty church in the background. “It’s bad. His condition has deteriorated a lot over night, and while we are still waiting on the Church to authorize a exorcism, we still haven’t gathered enough evidence of its proof.”  
Lorraine gave Ed a troubled look as the taboo word ‘exorcism’ was mentioned. Ed matched her troubled gaze with equal concern, and took her hand in his giving it a reassuring squeeze. “That’s not at all the news we had hoped to hear, Father. I assume you wanted to contact us to see if we can help in the gathering of evidence for the Church?”  
Father Gordon took his glasses off and rubbed his temples. He hated to drag them into something as dark as this, because he knew what a terrifying thing it was to come near the demonic. He put his glasses back on and looked up at the crucifx hanging above them. “Yes.” He said without looking at either of them. “The man is fighting a loosing battle. The demon is clever, and is withholding tell-tale signs that we need to present to the Church in order to weaken the man further and not allow us to bring in anyone higher up in Church authority. I’m asking you to help me, Ed, Lorraine,” here he turned to look at them beseechingly. “please, this man needs our help, and currently the Church is not giving him the help that he needs. It frustrates me to no end.”  
Ed looked at Lorraine. She had been unusually interested ever since she had heard mention of this French Canadian man, and she had closely been following his story and asking for updates from the Father every time that she saw him. He knew that something about this case was calling out to her, drawing her in. It had just been a vague feeling he had had, but he hadn’t been able to put it into words and ask her about it as of yet. She was looking at him with large blue doe eyes, and her mouth was silently forming the words ‘yes’. But he didn’t need her to verbally confirm that she wanted to help. He had already known that would be the case if things were to escalate, as it appeared they had.  
He turned to look at Father Gordon. “Of course, Father. We will do whatever we can to help.”  
Father Gordon looked immensely relieved upon hearing those words. “Very well. Take Judy home, and come back here at midday, after the 10am service. I will give you more instructions then. Until then, go in peace.” He shook both of their hands.  
“Thank you, Father.”  
Without further ado, Ed and Lorraine swiftly exited the church, both pausing to genuflect at the holy water basin as they exited, thanking God for the protection they would need in the hours to come. An air of seriousness now polluted the autumn Sunday morning. Calling Judy over, they explained the situation and told her that she would be spending the evening in the care of Georgina and to say goodbye to her friends. Judy looked a little sad, but understood that this situation was only normal for her and her parents. She gave her friends goodbye hugs, and hopped in the car with her parents. She knew that while she had an afternoon of movies, books, playing in the street and generally trying to forget the feeling of how empty the house felt without her mum and dad around, that her parents had a much more horrible afternoon and evening in store. As they drove away, she gazed out the window, trying to distract herself from the heaviness of the air around her. Unable to distract herself any longer, she closed her eyes and folded her hands in her lap.  
“Dear Lord, please, please. Protect my parents. Protect them. I love them so much, and I know you do too. So please, Lord. Even if you have thousands of prayers to get through today, just hear mine. Protect my parents from anything evil tonight.” For she had a feeling, that tonight was going to be a very, very evil night indeed.


	2. Fear in her Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _(fear) n. fear is defined as a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence and imminence of danger._   
> 

**SUNDAY AFTERNOON**  
Lorraine clutched the paper map that had the directions to the farmhouse Father Gordon had given them in such a way that her face was hidden from Ed’s peripheral vision while he drove. She sat staring at the map not seeing, deep in anxious thought. She had her rosary wrapped tightly around her right hand, and it was doing more to comfort her than anything else could aside from Ed at this moment if only he knew what she was thinking. Father Gordon had instructed them that although the Vatican had not issued approval for an exorcism yet, if things got out of hand they were to call him right away, and he would contact another Father who had training for such things and together they would make their way out to the farmhouse immediately, and sort out the paperwork side of things after. But if things looked otherwise, they were to just go ahead with their usual mode of investigation of voice-recording, filming, taking photos and seeing what Lorraine could detect through the spiritual medium.  
“How are you feeling, hun? You haven’t said hardly a word since we left the Church this morning.” Ed’s concerned voice cut through her anxious thoughts.  
Lorraine slowly lowered the map away from her face, still looking straight ahead. She kept her expression carefully neutral, not wanting Ed to realise how much this was affecting her. After all, she wouldn’t know if the man was who she thought he was until she saw him, and until then she was only making assumptions and wild connections, all of which were highly unlikely, anyway.  
“I’m fine. It’s just the assured nature of Father Gordon this morning that has me apprehensive.” She replied neutrally.  
Ed took a second to look across at her and see if her body language and facial features matched the words that were coming out of her mouth. He looked at his pretty wife with her mousy brown hair gently pinned back off her face and saw that her expression was carefully neutral. He sighed internally, feeling mild discontent that she wasn’t telling him how she was really feeling.  
“If it’s too much for us, we’ll call Father Gordon right away like he instructed. It’ll be okay, Lorraine. We’ve done this before.” Ed said reassuringly, directing his eyes back to the road. They had by now left town, and were passing through American countryside farmland, indicating that they were getting closer.  
Lorraine nodded and glanced in the side mirror where she could see Drew, their technical assistant, following them about about fifty yards back with the equipment they would need for creating documentation. “How do you think he’ll go?” She asked, tacitly changing the subject.  
“He should do fine. I’ve asked him to keep filming no matter what happens and we’ve gone over all the equipment together that he wasn’t familiar with so I don’t think we’ll run into any problems.”  
Here Ed broke into a grin and began to act a scenario they would like to avoid. “Drew, get me the... the.. the thing!!! The thing with the glowy bit!” He waved his free hand around wildly in the air. “You mean the UV light?” Ed countered, doing his best impersonation of Drew’s voice.  
Lorraine laughed and smiled at Ed. She loved how he could lighten the mood instantly, especially in times like this, when she needed to be distracted from her anxious thoughts.  
“You’re right, he is a bright kid. He’ll do fine.” She nonchalantly said, directing her gaze back down towards the map she had lowered into her lap. “We need to make a left turn up here,” she said, “and then another left about a mile up. Looks like there’s an offroad lane that will lead us to the farmhouse.”  
Ed didn’t show any sign that he had heard but flicked his indicator on when they got to the T-intersection. They paused and waited for Drew to catch up, more than for any other reason, as no cars were on the desolate road. Ed gazed out at the surrounding landscape as they started to turn saying, “Sure is quiet out here.”  
They drove onwards for another mile or so, before the laneway they were looking for appeared, marked by a long line of pines down the drive. Apprehension returned to fill Lorraine’s stomach as Ed shifted gears to low in order to turn off the tarmac and drive carefully up the corrugated country lane.  
Lorraine couldn’t hide it any longer. Her hands began to shake as she folded the map away and put it back under the sun visor. She undid her rosary around her hand and began to fiddle with the beads, presumable saying hail Mary’s. Ed shot his wife a concerned look and frowned. This wasn’t like her at all.  
Pulling over under the shade of two silos, Ed and Drew began to unpack the equipment they would need from the van. It was eerily quiet out there in the countryside, and the farmhouse loomed large on the land, a huge house with seemingly hardly anyone in it, only adding to the eerie feel of the land. Lorraine moved her third ‘Our Father’ bead through her fingers, looking out at the field behind the silos. Tomato crops. Rows and rows of dying tomato crops, seemingly unharvested from the summer months just gone by. The feeling of apprehension continued to grow in Lorraine’s stomach, and she turned the rosary beads faster in her hands. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like this at all. Her mind flashed back to this morning when she had smiled at Father Gordon and said she’d only be too willing to help. Suddenly the still country air felt suffocating to her. The last thing she wanted to do right now was walk up onto that porch and have her suspicions confirmed.  
The door on the porch of the farmhouse swung open suddenly, and a small brunette woman hurried towards them.  
“Dieu merci!” She proclaimed, quickly switching to English with a French-Canadian accent. “Please, come in quickly. Things have gotten much worse since the Père was last here.”  
Motioning for them to hurry, the trio followed after her. As they began to enter the door of the house, Ed paused to mark the doorframe with the sign of the cross from a vial of blessed oil he had retrieved from one of their bags. He also marked Drew’s head, his own and Lorraine’s, quietly saying a prayer in Latin for their protection before entering the house.  
“Are you picking up anything, hun?” Ed murmered in Lorraine’s ear as they passed through the doorway and into the large living room of the house. There were many old couches and objects covered with sheets, as if the room was not used often. Lorraine nodded and said in a low voice back, “Her aurora is dull green with a brown overlay, and I feel a great sense of fear and oppression emanating from her. She’s petrified of whatever this is, Ed.”  
Ed nodded. Clearly things here were just as bad as the Father suspected. He knew there was no time to waste. He quickly explained to the woman that they were there to collect evidence for the Church and not for any other purpose, and that if things were looking bad they would call Father Gordon and only stay until he arrived. Ed already got the feeling that they wouldn’t be staying long as even he could sense the air around them had an unsavory element to it.  
The woman then proceeded to tell how her husband had been molested repeatedly as a child in this very house and that his father was an abusive figure in his life who had died only recently. Since his father’s death, she had noticed a shift in his personality, and that he had become more prone to aggressive outbursts directed towards her, heavy drinking and long periods of brooding while their farm declined into disrepair. It had been going on for months now, and only after he had begun not eating or sleeping and making noises like an animal had she contacted the Church fearing he was possessed.  
“How long has it been since he ate or slept to your knowledge?” Ed asked the woman. She replied that it had been five days to her knowledge, although at night he did sometimes leave the house for long periods of a time and where he went she didn’t know.  
“And you’ve been here these whole five days?” Lorraine asked incredulously.  
The farmer’s wife shook her head. “No, I am terrified. I have been staying at a friend’s farm nearby. I come early in the morning and leave some food and water for him, but then I leave as quickly as possible. He is not my husband anymore.”  
Ed couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How was this not enough proof for the Church? He felt overcome by a feeling of incredulousness. That Father Gordon felt the Church wasn’t doing enough for this couple was completely warranted. He looked over at his wife, who was watching him with wide nervous eyes, and he immediately sensed that something about this case was different, that Lorraine was fearful of it rather than having her usual sensible nature about her. Seeing fear in Lorraine’s eyes made him snap into action. He suddenly made a decision then and there that he was going to get Father Gordon out here right away, whether or not an exorcism was warranted. Better to be overly cautious then to be under prepared.  
It was unusually quiet in the house, almost as if they were the only ones there.  
“Where is he, right now?” Ed asked.  
“He is in the basement. You can usually hear him shrieking and moaning.... That he is so quiet right now is unusual.” The wife quietly said, nervously wringing her hands and directing a fearful look down the long unlit hallway to the right of them.  
“I need to use the landline.” Ed promptly replied.  
He half-expected the phone lines to not be working, but to his relief they were working and he was able to place a call to Father Gordon, who said that his colleague and himself would be at the farmhouse shortly.  
“What do we do now?” Drew asked, the only one seemingly calm.  
“We wait for the Fathers to arrive. Maybe we can try to get some audio recordings, or yell out to him and see how he responds. Place some relics around the house, and setup temperature senors to capture changes in temperature. From what his wife has said though, to me it sounds too dangerous to go downstairs until the Fathers arrive. But we haven’t gathered any evidence like they have requested, so we will stay a little while longer and record. But, if things get too violent I am taking Lorraine back home immediately.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
> Author's Note: _I didn't want Maurice's exorcism to be it's own chapter, but I'm also aiming to keep the chapters a similar size per each, so decided I would end the chapter here and upload. If you're reading, please leave comments!!! :)_


	3. Romanian Nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Author's Note: In the Catholic faith, when a young girl enters a convent to begin her journey to become a nun, she takes on the name of a sister, which is usually a Saint or inspirational person that the individual identifies with on some personal or spiritual level. It is my understanding of the Conjuring universe that Lorraine took on the name of Sister Irene, and later abandoned her temporary vows after returning from Romania, ending up in America rather than staying in England. From my research 18 is usually the minimum age to enter a convent, but for my fanfiction’s sake she was 16, because of Lorraine’s spiritual gifts she was well talked of and admitted early, or because it was in the 20th century maybe the entry age was lower. Also, the real Ed and Lorraine met each other at 16, so I would like to incorporate that into my fanfiction._

**SUNDAY: DUSK**  
The two women stood out under the shade of the silos, both not willing to be inside the house until they actually had to be; until the Fathers arrived. Ed and Drew were inside the house, carefully setting up equipment and placing relics.  
Lorraine felt her head spinning, and she braced herself on the bonnet of Drew’s combie van, suddenly feeling a need to sit down. She could feel the beginnings of a panic attack coming on, and her ears were ringing. She had just discovered the man’s name, his wife having just revealed it to her.  
_Maurice._  
She tells herself that it’s just a coincidence, that Maurice is a common french name and it’s not _her_ Maurice. She had not seen Maurice in many decades, and had always envisioned him as happily nested somewhere with a wife and a family, with evenings cosy in a lounge room in front of the tv, boring, just how he would have liked it. He was happy, with an extended family that loved him very much, and he had left the horrors of Romania long behind in the far past like she had.  
Not in this situation. Not downstairs, in a basement, no family surrounding him except his wife who was terrified of him, nothing left to his name except fields full of rotting tomatoes, the inverse of his dream. She knew that if it was the demon from Romania they had encountered together that it was strong and powerful and most likely too difficult for Father Gordon and his fellow priest, when a miracle hunter sent straight from the Vatican and the holy relic of Christ’s own blood had not been enough to vanquish it back to hell. That thing had enough demonic power to kill all of them, every single one of them if it so wished.  
_Ed we need to leave._  
Lorraine’s anxiety had now reached it’s peak, culminating in a tight ball in her chest and the back of her throat. She was having trouble breathing.  
“Mrs. Warren, are you alright?” Maurice’s wife concernedly asked.  
Lorraine flapped her hand in an ‘I’m fine’ gesture, as she opened the car door and sat down, focusing on slowing her breathing. Again she thought of her Frenchie, his young cheerful face popping into her minds eye vividly, as if it had just been yesterday.  
_He smiled at her, tilting his head a little as he did and making direct eye contact with her. She felt her younger self blush as she shyly averted her gaze. “Actually I’m french Canadian, but don’t tell anyone, it doesn’t sound as romantic.” Frenchie cheekily said._  
A soft fondness helped to dim the anxiety she was experiencing at this memory of him, but the feeling was fleeting, quickly being replaced by dread.  
_Oh Maurice. Oh God. It can’t be. Please, don’t let it be him._  
She didn’t find herself thinking of Romania very often nowadays and all that had happened there, as it had been quite a traumatic experience for her. But now that she was, she thought of how powerful that demonic force with it’s ghastly impersonation of something holy had been. She knew that there was much evil in this world, now that she was much older, but she also knew that the evil in the physical and material world was classified by priests as merely ‘Secondary evil’. She knew, without a doubt, that what she had witnessed with Father Bourke and Frenchie in Romania had been what priests referred to more respectfully as ‘Primary evil’. While many people experienced Secondary evil in the course of their lives at the hands of mankind, Primary evil was something that few people ever truly experienced and survived to tell the tale.  
She thought of Father Bourke, and how all he had wanted was to save the boy Daniel and how it had plagued him when he hadn’t been able to. Just like Father Bourke, all she wanted was to free Maurice from this demon and for him to be left unharmed, if it was indeed her Maurice. She couldn’t leave him here, alone, _even if it is a different Maurice and solely a coincidence..._ Lorraine reasoned. She knew that the right thing to do was do the very best that she along with Father Gordon and his colleague could do to help rid this man of the evil presence that was plaguing him, and she knew without a doubt deep in her heart that this was no hoax of a haunted house.  
The sound of wheels crunching gravel caught her attention and she looked up, her blue eyes narrowing to peer down the long drive to see two black sedans with dark tinted windows driving steadily up the drive, a long cloud of dust billowing behind them. The Fathers were arriving.  
Lorraine stood up, taking Maurice’s wife’s hand in her own, both women watching as the Father’s approached and parked beside the front porch. This was really happening. Another thought popped unbidden into Lorraine’s head, unexpected but unalarming too. It was Father Bourke’s voice. _“...not enough emphasis on saving the boy and too much emphasis on exorcising the demon.”_ The sound of Father Bourke’s voice faded from her ears as soon as it had arrived, and she watched as the two priests got out of their cars, black suitcases in hand, black gloves, and black hats, looking the part. Lorraine’s lips tightened. She prayed to God these Father’s would be able to help, and that Father Gordon’s colleague wasn’t just a smoke and mirrors exorcist, unfamiliar with Primary evil. Her grip on the other lady’s hand tightened, and she led the woman forward, approaching the Fathers.  
“Mrs. Warren, this is Father Michael,” Father Gordon said, dipping his hat towards both the ladies and gesturing with his free hand towards Father Michael.  
Lorraine put her arm around Maurice’s wife and introduced her. “This is Nancy Theriault, the wife of Maurice.” She said, mostly for Father Michael’s sake. Father Michael dipped his hat as well, looking keen to enter the building. He was a tubbier white man, and his sense of interest in the case rather than one of grimness made Lorraine feel unsettled rather than reassured. The Father started walking up the porch steps, with Nancy following suit, and Father Gordon began to follow too.  
“Father, wait,” Lorraine said urgently, reaching out and grabbing him by the hem of his shirt sleeve. Father Gordon turned to her, looking mildly impatient.  
“What is it Lorraine?”  
Lorraine suddenly faltered. She had wanted to warn him of just what kind of an evil they could be up against, but she struggled to summarize what had happened in Romania quickly and to give it the full gravity it deserved in a hurried situation.  
“It’s just, I think it might be a man I met while I was on assignment from the Church in Romania as a young postulant,” She said, instantly regretting that she hadn’t already shared with Father Gordon what had happened to her in Romania instead of being so secretive and reluctant to talk about her past.  
“Well, I suppose it’s not out of the realm of the impossible.” Father Gordon curtly replied, resuming walking up the steps.  
Sucking in her breath through her teeth in frustration, Lorraine quickly bounded up the steps, following the trio into the foyer of the house. She felt so angry at herself for not having previously discussed this with Father Gordon and also at these men she was working with for not pausing to give her the moment she needed to explain herself.  
For the moment had already passed, and the men were already taking control of the situation, moving forward quickly in conversation before she could interject, Father Gordon shaking Ed and Drew’s hand, Father Michael already moving down the long hall that Nancy was directing him to with his suitcase in hand. She got the overwhelming feeling that the exorcist considered her an accessory to Ed that he had to put up with, and not really that useful in a situation like this.  
“Come on,” Ed said encouragingly, putting his hand on her forearm and looking into her eyes, trying to be reassuring. “It’ll be ok.” He said, completely oblivious to how she was feeling, assuming she was still feeling fear and anxiety when she was in fact now feeling frustration and stress, too.  
Then he was walking down the hall too, quickly paced, leaving her feeling bewildered. This was all moving too fast for her, and she knew that when things happened this quickly and disjointedly, in a small group scenario that was supposed to be working as a team, that this was when people got hurt.  
Towards the back of the house at the end of the hallway was a staircase descending into the basement. Father Gordon, Father Michael and Ed were assembled at the top of the steps, Father Michael making the Sign of the Cross while holding a vile of holy water that he spritzed in the air, saying “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.” before discarding his coat and draping a purple prayer shawl over his shoulders, gripping an open exorcism bible in hand and began to walk down the steps into the basement. Father Gordon, Ed, and Drew with his camera on his shoulder, followed suit. Nancy hesitated, before looking behind to check if Lorraine was following. Seeing Lorraine’s own hesitation she extended her hand out to her.  
“Come.” She said sweetly, her eyes with their dark circles under them looking pleadingly at her. “You must help him. Please.”  
Lorraine fought back an internal sob as images of her Frenchie flashed before her eyes. _It’s not him! God wouldn’t allow it. It’s not him!_ Feelings that she had never realized she held threatened to overwhelm her in that moment on the steps of an unknown basement. But she took a deep breath, casting her eyes skyward and blinking hard to fight back the tears. She knew that someone in her state should under no circumstances be entering the presence of a demon, and demon it was, for she could feel it’s foul aurora emanating out towards her. She almost recoiled in disgust at the reek of its presence. She could feel it become alert to her too, a certain pricking of the ears and a look her way as it became aware of her closeness. She felt a wave of excitement rush over her, and then felt physically sick as she realized the excitement was not her own, but that of the demon's. Ignoring her gut instinct to scream at Ed for them to flee, she took Mrs. Theriault’s hand in her own, letting the feeling of her warm skin center her and bring her back to the present moment. Then she allowed Nancy to lead her into the basement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _Author's Note: This chapter was rather hard for me to write, and I suspect the next chapter will be too. Most of all I just wanted to convey how absolutely disturbed Lorraine must have felt to be faced with the prospect of having to witness the exorcism of a dear friend of hers. That's kind of what led me to write this fanfic. In the movie Ed briefly states "Whatever Lorraine sees, hears, it takes a little piece each time."_
> 
> _As suggested by the title, this fanfic deals more with the psychological impact and the unsaid things left out of a big movie franchise, but of which in my universe Lorraine has had to face and overcome. (post-traumatic stress, anxiety, grief, depression etc.)_
> 
> _As always, thank you for reading and please leave a kudo or a comment if you've enjoyed! Constructive criticism is also welcome. <3 Chapter 4 is coming soon!_


	4. The Exorcism of Maurice Theriault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Diabolical forces are formidable. These forces are eternal, and they exist today.” Ed Warren

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Authors Note: Warning, this chapter contains traumatic content including graphic death depictions and near death experiences of major characters. Read at your own risk._

**SUNDAY: NIGHTFALL**  
Lorraine pauses by the door frame, her hand still gripping Nancy’s. She can feel her heart beat racing faster, and her natural fight-or-flight instincts kicking in. Quickly her eyes take in what she can see, absorbing all the information she can gather in order to make sense of the situation and respond quickly should she need to.  
She sees a room dimly lit by one dirty frosted glass window set at ground level, above head height. It lets in a stream of pale moonlight angled towards the center of the room where Ed had dragged a chair in order to try and manhandle Maurice onto it so that they had him in one location. However, the chair was empty, and Maurice did not seem to be immediately present. Her eyes darted about quickly trying to spot him, as she knew and could sense that he was in the room. She felt her psychic abilities pinpoint his location as a dark ball of energy at the back of the room. She looked, and sure enough in the back corner of the basement, crouched like an animal was a man, panting and staring defensively at Father Michael’s outstretched fist which clutched a crucifix. The sound of Father Michael and Father Gordon’s intermittent praying reached her ears, but she never took her eyes off the man.  
_Just come into the light Maurice...._ She found herself thinking, doing her best to peer into the shadows so as to get a better look at the man’s face. At that moment, Father Michael begins a new prayer passage, in English, about the power Christ’s blood gives his disciples over evil, making the sign of the cross once again with the crucifix held fast in his right hand. He finishes off the passage by commanding Maurice to stop hiding in the shadows, and to come forward into the light so that they might help him if he should so wish to receive help from Christ and the Church and be saved from the clutches of evil.  
There is a pause, and the sound of turning paper as Father Michael flicks to the next page, lowering his right hand temporarily in order to do so. During this pause, Maurice shuffles a tiny bit forward into the light, his eyes never once leaving Father Michael.  
Lorraine lets out an involuntary gasp as he comes into better visibility of the overhead light. He has a gorgeous face, although aged from how she remembered it, and pastier white and sicklier looking than she remembered too, but still handsome. She would recognise that face anywhere and in any lifetime.  
“Quod est oppositum de virtute, Patris? (What’s the opposite of a miracle, Father?)” Maurice drawls, his words directed at Father Michael, but his head snapping around to face Lorraine. A flash of deja vu overcomes Lorraine as she finds herself in a different time and place hearing Frenchie saying those exact words to Father Bourke.  
“No,” Lorraine whispered, taking a step back, and finding herself with her back up against the wall. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from Maurice’s cool yellow eyes.  
“Ita. (Yes)” The possessed Frenchie slowly hissed with a smile, cocking it’s head as it did so.  
“Nam ego quidem longum tibi, mi. Atque tandem aliquando conveniant iterum. (I have searched long for you, my dear. And at long last we meet again.)” Frenchie continued, inching slowly closer to Lorraine on all fours.  
Everyone in the room noticed Maurice’s sudden change upon Lorraine’s entrance into the room, from silence and careful watching to one of intense concentration as if the rest of them didn’t exist. But both Lorraine and the demon knew they had been able to sense each other from the moment she had set foot on the farm premises.  
“What’s it saying?!!?!” Ed shouted at both the Fathers, glancing desperately at his wife, unsettled by the possessed stranger’s keen interest in his wife who seemed understandably terrified of the man.  
“I - I’m not sure.” Father Michael stuttered back, his sure demeanor from earlier completely gone, “It speaks elaborately in nouns and verbs of Latin I have never heard before.”  
The possessed man paused at this, mid paw lift, and broke into a slow laugh, it’s attention briefly diverted from Lorraine and back towards Father Michael.  
“Brutus. (Imbecile)” It sneered at Father Michael, which seemed to be a word that he did understand for his hands began to shake and he fumbled with the pages in his book, seemingly unsure of what to do. He began to read again from the passage where he had stopped at earlier, but Maurice simply ignored him and turned his attention back to Lorraine.  
Lorraine couldn’t tear her eyes away from Maurice’s yellow gaze. She understood everything that the demon was saying to her, and she understood the context too. It was as she feared. It was the demon from the Abbey in Romania. It had somehow escaped from the Abbey using Frenchie as a conduit. Her mind turned quickly over the events that had happened there and anything that had seemed to work against the demon then that she could possibly use now, against it.  
“Vos revocandum, et redde vota tua quia non sunt in Christo ad virginem, Soror Irene.” the demon sneered at her, taking particular enjoyment in spitting the word ‘sister’ at Lorraine. (I see you have revoked your vows and are no longer a virgin to Christ, Sister Irene.)  
Lorraine knew better than to engage with the demon however, and allowed the painful insinuation that she had failed Christ to render meaningless, as she instead felt herself relax and reach for her rosary, opening up her heart to spiritual intuition from God, asking for his help as she gently drew inner strength from the Mother Mary icon she held between her fingers at the intersection of the prayer beads.  
_Mary. Mary points the way._  
In a flash of intuition, Lorraine remembered the prayer vigil the Sisters would keep against the unholy nun each night back in the Abbey. Suddenly she knew what they needed to do.  
_“Hail Mary,”_ She said, seeing at once that she was on the right track as the demon recoiled back with a hiss, narrowing its eyes at her in a hateful glare, _“Full of Grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed is she amongst Women,”_ confidence began to fill her voice, and she looked at the others in the room, willing them to join. _“and blessed is the fruit of her womb, Jesus.”_ Ed finished for her. Father Gordon and Father Michael’s masculine voices joined in alongside her and Ed too, and Nancy’s wavering voice joined as well. Even Drew began to pray with them too, all the while filming. _“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”_  
“In Latin!” Lorraine exclaimed, seeing the effect it was having on Maurice, who was now curling up in a ball on the floor as if he were a defensive snake trying to take cover and escape from the verbal assault of prayers.  
_“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.”_ Father Michael spritzed holy water on the shivering body laying at his feet and motioned for Ed and Father Gordon to come forward. _“Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Lesus.”_ still praying, Father Gordon and Ed took an arm each of the man curled at their feet and rolled him onto his back, so that they could see his face. His eyes had begun to slowly leak tears of blood, and he moaned with the voice of a man, not of a demon, staring up at the light above him. _“Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.”_  
“Nancy,” Maurice suddenly said weakly, lifting his head to look at her. “Nancy what have you done, who are these people?” Maurice suddenly regained a little more strength and began to struggle against Father Gordon and Ed’s strong hold on him. “NANCY!” he roared, and Nancy looked at him with frightened wide eyes.  
“Nancy, listen to me. I’ve had a psychotic break like my father did.” His voice softened, sounding exactly how Lorraine remembered it. “It’s genetic,” Maurice carried on, his eyes looking deep into Nancy’s, who was clearly looking distressed and conflicted. “I’m not possessed you dumb bitch.” Maurice snapped, his head thrashing around from side to side. “I should sue you for this!” He spat. “NANCY!”  
Nancy began to sob, covering her face in her hands.  
“Ignore him!” Father Michael’s sharp voice cut over the commotion in the room. “This is simply the Pretense stage of the exorcism! Nobody engage with him any further. Understand?!” Here Father Michael glared around at the others. “Now continue praying.” He instructed.  
As a group they continued to pray to the Holy Mother for her assistance, and meanwhile Ed and Father Gordon were able to wrestle Maurice from the floor and into the chair in the center of the room. As he was placed in the chair and tied down, he lolled to the side, his eyes falling open to see Lorraine, who had come closer with a cloth from one of the Father’s bags and was wiping the blood dripping from his eyes and the drool from his mouth. For one brief second, their eyes met, and Lorraine felt a surge of protective energy for her Frenchie, the one who had saved her from possession from the very same demon many decades before. In that moment she didn’t believe she was speaking to the Pretense, but to Maurice himself. She gripped his hand and whispered “Frenchie, it’s me. I’ve come to help. Hold on. I know you’re strong. You can do this.” But Maurice’s hand felt limp in her own, and his head rolled away from hers, his eyes only continuing to tear blood. Lorraine felt her heart fall.  
“Step away please!” Father Michael suddenly said, casting a disapproving look at Lorraine as he saw her whispering in Maurice’s ear. “He’s tied down now and we can continue with the exorcism. Step away.”  
Lorraine glanced at Ed, who nodded to her, and she slowly removed her hands from Maurice’s shoulders and stepped away, folding her hands across her chest and moving to stand by Ed’s side. Ed put his arm around her protectively, and they watched as Father Michael and Father Gordon continued with the exorcism ritual.  
The sound of Father Michael’s commanding voice reading from the exorcism rites and of Father Gordon’s strong voice reading the responses back filled Lorraine’s ears as she nestled into Ed’s arms, putting her head on his chest.  
_Frenchie.... I can’t believe it’s really you. After all this time apart and now we meet again like this? How can this possibly be happening. I felt sure God had protected you from this beast all those years ago, and for what? For you to only meet the same fate once again? I don’t understand._  
She was so shocked at what was happening that she felt as if she was disassociating from her body, and not really there in the basement room with the others. Her mind protectively took to chanting Hail Mary’s in Latin, again and again,  
_“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Lesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.”  
“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Lesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.”  
“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Lesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.”_  
She was not in the basement, she was in the Abbey chapel, sixteen again, kneeling in her white postulant gown keeping perpetual adoration against the unholy nun. With the end of one hail Mary came the beginning of another one, and she prayed along with the other sisters, refusing to stop until the first signs of dawn broke through the chapel windows to provide their exhausted physical bodies with respite from the evil that was attacking them spiritually.  
_“Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro...”_  
She felt Ed’s arms suddenly tightening around her physical body, drawing her back to the present. He was turning away, and she suddenly became aware of commotion and screaming. She opened her eyes just in time to see Maurice, glaring at her with piercing penetrating yellow eyes, and suddenly lunging forward with inhuman strength, breaking out of his restraints, and charging at her with arms outstretched towards her as if to choke her. Ed tried to shield her, but Maurice lunged at her and wrapped his hands around her neck, breaking her free from Ed’s hold and knocking her to the floor.  
There was screaming all around her, and she heard Ed yelling at Drew to “Get out of here!!” as he, and the two Father’s struggled to pull Maurice off of her. She felt his grip around her neck tightening, restricting her airflow so that she couldn’t breath. Gasping for air, she saw through increasingly dim vision the Nun lying on top of her choking her, its glowing eyes piercing deep into her soul, chilling her to the core. She felt its cold body pressing up against hers, and suddenly became aware of its slimy cold and scaly flesh making contact against her own warm skin.  
Lorraine gasped, about to pass out. The Nun smiled a wide ghastly grin, the smell of Lorraine’s lifeforce weakening bringing it more strength.  
Suddenly there was the sound of a shotgun firing, and Lorraine heard the Nun shrieking inhumanly, as if through a far fog, the sound seeming distant and far away. She felt Ed and the Father’s wrestle Maurice’s body off her own, and gasping, she felt musty basement air fill her lungs once again.  
She became aware of Drew beside her, propping her up while she attempted to regain her breath, and she looked, wide eyed, to the doorframe where Nancy stood, also wide eyed, holding a shot gun with which she had just shot Maurice with. “Thank you” Lorraine mouthed. The other woman nodded back at her.  
The three men were wrestling with Maurice, who slithered and twisted in such a way that it seemed as if not one of the three men could get a decent hold on him. Nancy had shot him clean in the shoulder, and blood oozed from the open wound at an alarming rate.  
The next few things happened in such quick succession that the silence that followed seemed deafening. The possessed man suddenly straightened up, inhumanely tall and straight as if he had a rod for a spine instead of a natural human curving spine. He made a pushing motion with both of his hands outward, his wounded arm seeming not to cause him any pain, and the three men trying to wrestle him into submission were cast violently across the room away from him. Next, the man turned to Lorraine, left hand outstretched, and eyes glowing yellow. Lorraine saw him as the Nun again. The Nun gave a ghastly smile, and then next minute Lorraine was having a vision.  
_She watched as the Nun smiled ghastly at her. ‘What do you want?!?!’ She screamed at it. It had followed her all the way from Romania back to America, and she knew that it had a profound interest in her, an obsession that crossed time and space. She felt as if she had eternally battled this demon, been plagued by it’s relentlessness even in her past lives. From the moment the Vatican had declared her familiar with the territory when she had never even been there. It was simply because in each lifetime she would again and again be confronted with this beast. The Nun smiled, acknowledging their past familiarity with each other. Then it cast a pointed finger in a direction away from them both. She looked in the direction it was pointing, to see her life partner standing looking at her, his face shrouded by shadow so that she couldn’t see the emotion he was expressing on his face. ‘I’m sorry Lorraine.” Ed said, before a sharp shard of black obsidian was thrust straight through his heart, black blood spurting out of his mouth and splattering towards her. Lorraine screamed._  
Lorraine screamed. She screamed like she had never screamed before. And in that exact moment, the Nun stretched its hand out in Nancy’s direction, drawing the shotgun flying across the room to connect with a thud into the Nun’s cold white hand. Then Maurice turned the shotgun on himself, looking straight down the barrel of the gun with a glazed expression before he shot himself straight through the center of his forehead.  
Lorraine’s screams became even louder than before, and the sounds of Nancy’s screams accompanied hers, causing a merging of pitches to cause the air to waver in a strange sliding sound.  
Then there was a sound as if of ferocious wind, and items on the basement shelves rattled and flew around the room. The light blew out with a sound of shattering glass, and in the remaining moonlight Lorraine saw the black shrouds of the demon’s cloak swirling around the room, bounding off the walls before bursting out the single basement window, with a sound of shattering glass. Lorraine, who was closest to the window, screamed as the shards of glass shattered and flew in her direction, a thin sliver slicing her cheek feeling as if it were a black talon of the Nun slicing her in passing as it departed the room. There was a sound of shrieking wind along the outside of the building, and the farmhouse above them shook. An even louder screeching sound filled the air, and they all recoiled as the sound of metal crashing into the roof above could be heard. The axel of the farm windmill had blown off and crashed into the living area upstairs.  
Then it was still. Lorraine peered around the room, and her eyes came first to Frenchie’s motionless body, lying still on the floor. Nancy had slid down the door frame and was sitting in a crumpled heap staring expressionlessly at nothing in particular. Lorraine began to shake uncontrollably almost as if she were shivering, but she didn’t feel cold. She felt Drew wrapping his jumper around her shoulder’s and heard him ask her if she was alright. She didn’t respond.  
“Shit. Shit, shit.”  
It was Ed’s voice, and suddenly he was all around her, pulling her to her feet, putting his arms around her, taking her face in his hands and examining the cut on her cheek.  
“Honey are you ok?!” Ed asked, speaking with a tremor, his hands ever so gently cupping her cheek.  
Lorraine shook her head, and leant forward into his warm embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. Nothing had ever felt so good before in her life as his hold on her did just then.  
“Home. Take me home.” She managed to form thought into word, still completely shocked at what had just happened. She was still trembling.  
Equally stunned and shocked at what had just happened, Ed told Father Gordon that he was sorry he couldn’t stay to help with the aftermath, but that he had to take care of Lorraine. Father Gordon, who was kneeling beside Nancy and talking softly to her, paused to acknowledge Ed and replied with an empty look in his eyes that they would need to meet for a debrief and to discuss what to do with Drew’s film footage, but that he understood and to take Lorraine home.  
Ed helped Lorraine out to the car, both pausing to look at the damage the fallen windmill had done to the living room area where they had all been standing only hours before. He helped her into the car, wondering himself if it was wise for him to be driving when he was still so shaken himself.  
He started the engine of the car, turning the heater up to full blast as Lorraine was still shaking, clutching Drew’s jacket around her shoulders. Silently they drove away from the farmhouse, Ed seeming to have an internal compass pointing him towards home as he navigated back along the dark roads never once asking to look at the map.  
They had been driving for some time, and the car had now reached a comfortable temperature and Lorraine had stopped shaking. Ed felt that they were both more grounded now to begin talking about what had just happened. Eyes on the dark country road ahead illuminated only by his headlights, he ventured, “That was some of the best Latin I have ever heard in my life from a possessed man.”  
He was met with silence, and he glanced at Lorraine, waiting for her to respond. She didn’t and instead turned her head to stare out the window at the beginnings of dawn on the eastern horizon. Ed looked away tight lipped. They would talk later then.  


* * *

The early morning light gently lit up their suburban neighbourhood as Ed slowly turned into their drive. Their little suburban home felt as if it were welcoming them back, enveloping them both in a gentle promise of serenity, the only sound to be heard from the still house was the gentle breeze in the trees and the quiet clucking of hens in the henhouse coming from the backyard.  
As they made their way quietly into the house, Ed attempted to talk to Lorraine again.  
“Honey, it’s ok if you’re not alright. What happened back there... was extremely dark and I’m so sorry that I ever took you there in the first place. I -”  
Lorraine cut him off, not looking his way. “I’m so tired honey. We can... talk about it after some sleep. And... I need you to sleep in the guest room for now, if that’s ok. I just... need some time to process what happened alone.”  
There was a pause between the two of them that stretched a little too long to be a comfortable pause.  
“....Okay....” Ed said, which was really the only response he knew his wife would accept at this moment. He felt a little taken aback that she would want to sleep alone and send him to the guest room after all they had just been through together, but he reasoned that he must be understanding and so didn’t resist.  
Then he watched as Lorraine turned away from him without so much as a hug or a kiss and began making her way up the stairs. He heard her enter their room, and the door close gently, then the sound of her laying down on their bed. Feeling a little hurt but also completely exhausted, Ed proceeded to the kitchen and wrote a note for Judy and Georgina, explaining that they had gotten back quite late and that they would see each other for a family dinner Monday night after Judy had returned from school. Then he collapsed on the couch in the lounge room, not sure if he was silently protesting his wife’s choice to send him to the guest room or if he was just too tired to climb up the stairs. He didn’t mind if Judy woke him up within the next few hours on her way to school, and almost hoped that she would just so he could see her happy smiling face, but he had a feeling Georgina would make sure that she didn’t. Ed’s tired mind went over the events of the night once more. The whole thing had been a massive mess and a massive mistake and it was entirely on him, he felt, for ever agreeing to take Lorraine out there in the first place. Images of the strange man he had only just met that night choking his wife and the sound of her screams filled his mind once again. He shuddered, and forcefully focused his mind on the sound of the morning dawn birds, allowing their sounds to calm him until his exhausted body finally let him succumb to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Authors Note: I apologise for using Frenchie/Maurice/The Nun interchangeably and I hope that it didn't make the reading of the chapter confusing for anybody. Also, before anybody asks, if you wonder why I never mention the demon's actual name, that is because Lorraine wasn't aware of the name of the demon at that time (remember, Father Bourke discovered it but never had a chance to share it with Lorraine)._
> 
> _I hope that I did the exorcism scene justice. I took alot of inspiration from the exorcism scene in the movie called "Deliver us from Evil (2014)" which, surprisingly, is a crossover with The Conjuring universe if anyone wasn't aware of that. The real life Ralph Sarchie knew and worked on shared cases with Ed and Lorraine Warren, apparently (but I have never heard which cases those might be, but it's something I would like to find out more about, if anyone knows, please leave a comment.)_
> 
> _If you're reading, please leave a kudo if you enjoyed, and don't be shy to leave comments!! I love comments on my works. :) Thanks for reading, and I hope you're enjoying it!_
> 
> P.s  
> The next chapters may deal with some triggering concepts for some (not eating, isolation) so please be aware of that. I understand at a time when many people are IRL isolation due to Corona virus it might hit home a little hard etc. But I will do my best to be considerate of this fact. If you're more in it for the action packed chapters... well we might have reached an end of them. I plan on wrapping up the fanfic in the next few chapters anyway. So, in advance thanks for the visit/sticking around!!!


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